Day Total - 31.8 miles
Trip Total - 388.4 miles
We woke up to a very cold morning, in the low 40s at most. We had a bit of bike maintenance to do before leaving, so after cleaning and living our chains and making another attempt to secure my front rack, we were on our way at about 10:30.
A couple miles out of camp, we discovered that we were wrong about Westport State Beach being closed. The first campground we came to was, but a little further down the road, the main campground was very much open. It still wasn't sheltered at all though, so everything probably worked out for the best.
Meanwhile, the clear skies allowed the temperature to rise to a comfortable 55-60 degrees as we rode along the coast. The views northward toward the extremely rugged Lost Coast were spectacular, but they didn't last long. About 7 miles into the ride, we left the shoreline and climbed 600 feet through forest. That climb was just an appetizer though, as it would be followed by the main course for the day - 1600 feet up Leggett Hill.
After a chilly descent and some riding along rolling road, we stopped for lunch at what turned out to be the base of Leggett Hill. The road turned to the northeast, and we began our ascent.
Though it is the highest on the Pacific Coast route, the challenge Leggett Hill presents isn't so much the altitude gain as the length of sustained climbing. From the "southern" (actually more western) side, it is approximately 10 miles to the summit with almost no breaks in the uphill grade. The road winds through forest, with more and more redwoods as you move inland, and it is generally well-paved with little traffic. We put the bikes into granny gear and plugged away. And plugged, and plugged. It seemed like the climb would never end, and we did reach a few false summits before actually cresting the hill at about 2:15, a little over an hour and a half after we started.
All in all, the climb really wasn't that terrible. It was long, for sure, but we took it at a steady pace in low gear and made it up and over just fine. And the descent - oh, the descent! We dropped the 1000 feet into the town of Leggett in about 4 miles, and on the twisting road with absolutely no cars in our direction, it was an absolute blast.
At the bottom, we met a southbounder named Nick. We stopped to chat for a few minutes, and we found out that we had also passed someone Kevin knew. We saw a lot of other cycle tourists today, somewhere around a dozen, far more than on any day up to this point. Shortly after that, we stopped at the gas station in Leggett, so we started up the hill southward toward Leggett Market. I remembered reading something about a store being near the campground at which we would be staying, however, and a look at the map confirmed my suspicions. Kevin was long gone by this point though, so I waited about halfway up the hill while munching on dried apricots.
Once Kevin returned we rode about 2 miles northward on US 101 - Leggett is the northern terminus of California Highway 1, and 101 would be our primary road all the way to the northern tip of Oregon. When we got to Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area, where we would be camping for the night, there was, lo and behold, a store right across the street. The campground, and park as a whole, are actually closed to all but hiker/biker campers as a result of state budget cuts, so we got real campsites instead of the usual vaguely defined hiker/biker section.
That was good, because at the same time we pulled in, a southbound cyclist named Kaitlyn was arriving. Four more cyclists set up camp over the next few hours, giving us 7 in total spending the night. The campground is in a redwood grove next to 101, which, although not a freeway in this section, is still busier than Highway 1. But after the climb over Leggett Hill, we should be able to sleep through just about anything.
Trip Total - 388.4 miles
We woke up to a very cold morning, in the low 40s at most. We had a bit of bike maintenance to do before leaving, so after cleaning and living our chains and making another attempt to secure my front rack, we were on our way at about 10:30.
A couple miles out of camp, we discovered that we were wrong about Westport State Beach being closed. The first campground we came to was, but a little further down the road, the main campground was very much open. It still wasn't sheltered at all though, so everything probably worked out for the best.
Meanwhile, the clear skies allowed the temperature to rise to a comfortable 55-60 degrees as we rode along the coast. The views northward toward the extremely rugged Lost Coast were spectacular, but they didn't last long. About 7 miles into the ride, we left the shoreline and climbed 600 feet through forest. That climb was just an appetizer though, as it would be followed by the main course for the day - 1600 feet up Leggett Hill.
 |
| Goodbye Ocean. |
After a chilly descent and some riding along rolling road, we stopped for lunch at what turned out to be the base of Leggett Hill. The road turned to the northeast, and we began our ascent.
Though it is the highest on the Pacific Coast route, the challenge Leggett Hill presents isn't so much the altitude gain as the length of sustained climbing. From the "southern" (actually more western) side, it is approximately 10 miles to the summit with almost no breaks in the uphill grade. The road winds through forest, with more and more redwoods as you move inland, and it is generally well-paved with little traffic. We put the bikes into granny gear and plugged away. And plugged, and plugged. It seemed like the climb would never end, and we did reach a few false summits before actually cresting the hill at about 2:15, a little over an hour and a half after we started.
 |
| This is pretty representative of the average grade of Leggett Hill. |
 |
| Near the top |
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| Looking back uphill |
Once Kevin returned we rode about 2 miles northward on US 101 - Leggett is the northern terminus of California Highway 1, and 101 would be our primary road all the way to the northern tip of Oregon. When we got to Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area, where we would be camping for the night, there was, lo and behold, a store right across the street. The campground, and park as a whole, are actually closed to all but hiker/biker campers as a result of state budget cuts, so we got real campsites instead of the usual vaguely defined hiker/biker section.
That was good, because at the same time we pulled in, a southbound cyclist named Kaitlyn was arriving. Four more cyclists set up camp over the next few hours, giving us 7 in total spending the night. The campground is in a redwood grove next to 101, which, although not a freeway in this section, is still busier than Highway 1. But after the climb over Leggett Hill, we should be able to sleep through just about anything.
 |
| Welcome to the Redwood Empire |
View Day 11 - Westport, CA-Leggett, CA in a larger map
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